Bieber up for AL Cy Young, J-Ram for MVP
Mandy Bell
@MandyBell02CLEVELAND -- Shane Bieber and José Ramírez will have a chance to bring home some hardware this offseason after stellar years both on the mound and in the batter’s box led them to being named finalists for Baseball Writers’ Association of America Awards, as announced live on MLB Network on Monday night.
Bieber was announced as one of the three finalists for the American League Cy Young Award, joining Kenta Maeda of the Twins and Hyun Jin Ryu of the Blue Jays. Ramírez was also named one of three finalists for the AL MVP Award, along with José Abreu of the White Sox and DJ LeMahieu of the Yankees.
Bieber being named a finalist is far from surprising. The 25-year-old led all Major League pitchers in ERA (1.63), strikeouts (122) and wins (eight) in 2020, while owning a 0.866 WHIP and 2.07 FIP in 77 1/3 frames. His 3.2 Wins Above Replacement, per FanGraphs, led all pitchers and trailed just Ramírez and Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman (both of whom had a 3.4 fWAR) of all Major League players.
It may have only been Bieber’s second full season in the big leagues and first year as the Tribe’s ace, but the right-hander settled in like a seasoned veteran. It’d be shocking if he doesn't take home the hardware on Nov. 11.
“He just continues to get better,” Indians manager Terry Francona said at the end of the season. “And he went from young and pretty good to really good to dominating in a really short amount of time. And the exciting part is that he’s never going to be satisfied with where he is and he’s really a humble kid and conscientious. He’s a good teammate. He’s the type of guy you can build your staff around and we’re really excited about that.”
Bieber certainly had a chance of making his way into the MVP conversation, but it was Ramírez who forced his way into being a finalist through the final month of the season. The third baseman had a solid year, hitting .292 with a .993 OPS, 17 homers, 46 RBIs and 16 doubles in 58 games. He had a slightly quieter August due to a left thumb injury, but he became scorching hot in the final weeks, which led the Indians to securing home-field advantage in the AL Wild Card Series.
In 23 games in September, Ramírez hit .366 with a 1.294 OPS, an .841 slugging percentage, 10 homers, 24 RBIs and nine doubles. His bat almost single-handedly pulled the Indians out of their eight-game losing streak in the middle of September and helped them end the season with nine wins in their final 11 games. His most iconic moment of the year was certainly a walk-off, three-run homer that clinched the Tribe’s postseason berth.
“Ramirez is our MVP,” Indians interim manager Sandy Alomar said. “He had an unbelievable season. He came every day, worked hard, came every day with a ton of energy -- our sparkplug.”
Ramírez placed third in the AL MVP voting in 2017 and ’18, and his end-of-the-year efforts may give him a chance to place higher this time. He shot to the top of the fWAR leaderboard (3.4), tying Freeman for the highest in the Majors in the final weeks of the season. His 17 homers also tied Mike Trout and Fernando Tatís Jr. for the fourth most in MLB, and his 46 RBIs tied Trout for the sixth most in the big leagues. The MVP Award winners will be announced on Nov. 12, live on MLB Network.
“That's an MVP year, man,” teammate Franmil Reyes said. “Like I told you guys before, José, for me, is one of the best players in the league. He deserves the MVP. The way he carried us all the way, it was really big for the team. I'm really thankful to be playing right next to him.”